Say ‘yes’ to screening
Selecting the right person for the job can be a time-consuming and complicated process. Katrina Birchall discusses the benefits of conducting pre-employment background checks to ensure you get it right.
Human resources practitioners know just how time-consuming and complicated the process is to get to the point of making a job offer. Some might question, having got to that point, what the benefit would be in conducting pre-employment background checks. I trust that once you review the following information, you will be saying a resounding YES to screening.
This article lists ten very good reasons why you should conduct background checks and how you back yourself and your organisation by doing so. The size of the organisation is irrelevant—best practice applies to all businesses both large and small.
While screening is a cost, it will soon pay off by saving you both time and the headaches that arise from dealing with inappropriate hires of unscreened applicants.
TOP 10 REASONS TO CONDUCT BACKGROUND CHECKS.
The cost of not screening cannot be understated. I am sure every practitioner will have personally experienced or witnessed the nightmare of a hire gone wrong. Had sufficient background checks been conducted, that nightmare could have been revealed prior to hiring and avoided.
The true nature and deeds of people are revealed in the fullness of time, but it is best that they are revealed before they become your responsibility. The cost of time, effort, legal costs and low morale in the workplace are enormous. We have had clients say that the cost of one inappropriate hire would have funded their entire annual screening programme.
There are some key components for consideration when you are going to introduce background screening:
- •Review the risks within each of the roles within the organisation.
- •Review the current costs of negligent hiring.
- •Establish the baseline checks that you will apply to all roles within the organisation without exception, then add the checks that apply to more specialised roles, eg, full reference checks, and criminal history and pre-employment drug checks for all staff. Then add driver licence and suspension history to all professional drivers. For roles requiring specific qualifications, then also add these to those roles. For areas where specific injuries might occur, review the ACC history for previous and potentially repetitive injuries. For accounting roles with financial responsibility or access to sensitive information, or cash handling, add financial probity checks to view how those people manage their own finances. When recruiting from overseas, remember to conduct international criminal checks from the country of origin or any country where the person might have worked for a year or more. (Criminal history and credit checks are available in most countries in the world). Distance need not be an obstacle or reason to avoid checking.
HOW BACKGROUND SCREENING BENEFITS AN ORGANISATION
I trust that the above 10 points have provided some immediately perceived benefits.
When background checks are mandatory across the entire organisation, it quickly becomes standard practice and, in some instances, will dissuade inappropriate people from applying for positions. Those who have been screened pre-employment will have a sense of confidence that they and their peers have been screened to a high standard that sends a positive message to all and re-inforces management’s goal to create a safe workplace.
What does the introduction of pre-employment background screening mean for HR practitioners? The role of conducting the background checks can be easily turned over to a professional background screening company.
Today there are many companies with systems that take over all the effort from HR. And, what’s more, the online systems are so user-friendly to applicants that all information and ID and signatures can be provided online in one sitting. The technology at our disposal means that checks can be completed remotely on a smart phone with ease. The screening company manages the result and HR can access the result online.
The positive result of pre-employment screening is arriving at the situation where you know with full certainly that the person you have selected for the role is the right person, and the claims that they have made about themselves are true. Or, alternatively, NO—thank goodness we checked!